


Make it Hurt

by hajimetooru_ittetsu



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A Choice with No Regrets, Gen, Protective Furlan Church, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Thug Trio family, implied assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26248621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hajimetooru_ittetsu/pseuds/hajimetooru_ittetsu
Summary: The moment Isabel stormed into the house, bloody, bruised and missing a chunk of her hair, Levi knew that tonight, there would be hell to pay.
Relationships: Furlan Church & Isabel Magnolia, Furlan Church & Levi, Furlan Church & Levi & Isabel Magnolia, Levi & Isabel Magnolia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 114





	Make it Hurt

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the flashback scene in chapter 2 of the ACWNR manga. Enjoy!

The moment Isabel stormed into the house, bloody, bruised and missing a chunk of her hair, Levi knew that tonight, there would be hell to pay.

"Isabel?" Farlan's voice was concerned as he rose to his feet and watched her stagger across the room, doing a poor job of hiding her pain. "Hey! What happened?"

 _"Nothing,"_ Isabel snarled under her breath, her face dark. 

"Don't tell me," Farlan pressed on, "you went to see those low-life scumbags again?"

"Shut up!" Isabel yelled, not meeting either of their eyes. "I just tripped!"

An obvious lie. Levi took in the state of her battered body and the blood and dirt coating her skin. His gaze returned to her mangled hair. "What happened to your hair?" he asked, his tone deathly calm.

Isabel flinched violently at his question. She turned on her heel and stalked towards the door of her room. "It'll”—she wrenched the door knob open—"grow”—she stormed into her room—”back!" The door slammed shut behind her. 

Farlan stared at her door in shock and alarm while Levi looked on, outwardly impassive. His eyes dropped to the knife in his hands, feeling the rush of his blood boiling. He'd go after _them_ later. He'd _kill_ them for what they've done to Isabel. But first...

He stood up, dropping his knife onto the table, and headed for Isabel's closed door. He twisted the door knob and opened the door silently, Farlan following close behind. 

Isabel looked up from where she was sitting on her bed. She glared at them. "Hey, I told you—"

In a few quick steps, Farlan crossed the room, dropped onto the bed beside her and put his arms around her small frame, his grip tight but gentle. Isabel inhaled sharply in surprise, her eyes widening, before immediately wrapping her own arms around him and squeezing him back tightly, tears gathering in her eyes. She relished his warmth and his presence, feeling the tears building up in her eyes, the hurt and anger in her chest tightening their hold on her heart. It took all of her self-control to rein the feelings in, to not let her tears fall.

Isabel finally pulled away to meet Farlan’s worried gaze. She turned to Levi, who had been standing by the doorway, quietly watching the entire time, a silent question in her eyes. _Can I hug you?_

Levi sighed but opened up his arms slightly, silently giving her permission. She launched herself into Levi’s arms and threw her own arms around his waist, clutching at the back of his shirt tightly. Levi pulled her close, stroking a gentle hand down her back and smoothing down her hair. Something in her chest loosened, whether it was from the tenderness of the embrace or the fact that Levi was there with his quiet assurance, holding her in his arms; she didn’t know. A sob was involuntarily wrenched out of her throat, and like a dam breaking, once she started, she couldn’t stop. Levi didn't say anything, just held her in his arms as she sobbed into his shoulder, stuttering out vengeful words for her assaulters, her bony fingers digging into his shirt. He waited patiently for her tears to stop flowing, for her sobs to die down to sniffles, for her body to stop shaking.

Isabel stood there, drained, her tearstained face buried in her brother's shoulder, wrapped in an extremely rare, once-in-a-lifetime hug. She leaned against Levi and enjoyed the quiet and warm moment, feeling a lot lighter than she had before.

A hand reached up to ruffle Isabel's hair. She finally pulled away from Levi to turn red-rimmed eyes at Farlan, who dropped his hand onto her shoulder and squeezed lightly. He took in the bruises and cuts peppered across her skin and sighed softly. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up,” he said, voice gentle.

Levi instructed her to sit on one of the chairs as Farlan left to get a bucket of clean water and a cloth. He returned not a moment later and immediately got to work gently scrubbing the blood and dirt off her face. Levi watched from his place by the door.

"What happened, Isabel?" Farlan asked, again, meeting her eyes as he carefully wiped the warm wet cloth on her face. "Who did this to you?" 

Isabel grimaced a little and shifted uneasily in her seat, feeling Levi's gaze on her too. Her voice was small when she answered. "I got jumped. Three guys. I think they're from Jason's gang. They beat me up and cut off some of my hair, said it's for revenge or something, I don't know. I managed to give them the slip and get away in the end."

Farlan's eyes were dark and angry as he dipped the cloth into the bucket of water and started to work on her right arm. Isabel glanced up at Levi and almost balked at the cold fury on his normally expressionless face.

"Isabel," Levi said, his tone level, "tomorrow, you won't be practicing with your 3DMG."

Isabel shot up from her seat, her sudden movement dislodging her arm from Farlan's grip. "What?!" she yelled, horrified. "But, aniki—"

"I'm going to teach you how to fight."

She blinked, not expecting the words that came out of his mouth. “Oh.” She sank back down into the chair. “Oh. Okay.”

“I’ll teach you how to fight properly. _Then_ , you can go back to training with the maneuver gear.”

She nodded. “Okay. Sounds good to me.” 

Farlan took hold of her arm once again—the left one this time—and continued rubbing off the blood and grime. Everyone was silent for a while.

“Alright, I’m done,” Farlan declared, throwing the cloth into the used bucket. “Hey, about your hair. I can fix it up for you if you like.”

“Really?” Isabel asked excitedly. The old gleam in her eyes was back.

“Yep! Used to work as a hairdresser, so I’m pretty good with fixing hair.”

“Okay!” Isabel cheered, beaming at Farlan happily. 

“Rest first,” Levi cut in, folding his arms. “You’re tired. Go to sleep.”

“Aww, aniki,” Isabel said forlornly, though Levi did have a point. Her body was really sore and she was exhausted.

Farlan laughed. “I’ll fix it up for you once you’ve rested, okay?”

“Alright!” Isabel agreed, pumping her fists in the air. She moved to the bed and lay down, pulling the covers over her own body. 

Farlan chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Go to sleep, dummy.” He grinned at her, picked up the empty bucket and left the room. Levi moved to follow.

“Aniki?”

Levi turned back to the room to see Isabel’s glimmering emerald eyes watching him. 

“Can you stay? Until I fall asleep?” Isabel’s voice was soft and a little uncertain. She looked so small under the covers. 

Levi sighed and moved back into the room, drawing up a chair beside the bed and sitting. Isabel smiled, tired and happy.

“Good night, aniki,” she whispered, closing her eyes.

He wanted to tell her _it’s not night yet, idiot,_ but he didn’t. It didn't make a difference anyway, not with the artificial sky above their heads, caging them in. Instead, he lifted a hand to ruffle her hair, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest and listening to the soft sounds of her breathing, comforting in the silence. He stayed for a while, watching over her in her sleep, eyes tracking the fading bruises on her skin, and thinks, _she's safe now._

* * *

Farlan looked up as Levi emerged from Isabel’s room.

“She’s asleep?” he asked, watching as Levi picked up his knife from the table and sheathed it. Levi nodded as he pulled on his cloak and turned to the door.

“Are you going after them?”

Levi regarded him from over his shoulder. “Are you going to stop me?”

“No.” Farlan’s eyes were dark and cold, no trace of hesitation or sympathy to be found. Levi looked away, satisfied.

“Oh, and Levi?”

Levi turned back to look at him, the silent question in his eyes.

“Make it hurt.”

Levi didn’t reply as he strode out of the house, the door closing silently behind him. _Of course._


End file.
